‘I’m not being offensive but…’: intersecting discourses of discrimination towards Muslim children in school

Welply, O.

Abstract

This article examines forms of implicit discrimination towards Muslim children in children’s discourses of Otherness. Findings in this paper draw on qualitative data exploring the discourses of 17 children from a Year 6 class in a culturally diverse primary school in the East of England. Building on Critical Race Theory and Critical Discourse Analysis, this article shows that children’s discourses of Otherness acted in tacit discriminatory ways by constructing difference as problematic, which positioned Muslim children as the ‘bad Other’. These findings show the intersectionality of discrimination experienced by Muslim children in school, and offer a reflection on the role of multiculturalism in schools and the limitations of uncritical discourses of tolerance in fostering an understanding of difference and Otherness.

Citation

Welply, O. (2018). ‘I’m not being offensive but…’: intersecting discourses of discrimination towards Muslim children in school. Race Ethnicity and Education, 21(3), 370-389. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2017.1294569

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 20, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Feb 28, 2017
• Publication Date: May 4, 2018
• Deposit Date: Jan 10, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 28, 2018
• Journal: Race Ethnicity and Education
• Print ISSN: 1361-3324
• Electronic ISSN: 1470-109X
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 21
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 370-389
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2017.1294569
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1388908